Monday, October 7, 2013

MIX WELL...ALWAYS!!!

One thing you will keep hearing at Homeworld is MIX WELL. First off, I do not use sub standard products for any project. ALL of Homeworlds Blog Exclusive's are made with fresh stock. Whats left over I use for customs and commissions. And then I experiment and have fun with whats left. Sometimes I dont use it all and I might have 1/4 of a bottle left sitting for a month or two.

Here's what they DONT tell you about the shelf life of a product. The SHELF LIFE of a product is directly linked to the AMOUNT LEFT IN THE BOTTLE. If you have two bottles of the same product one 1/4 full and one that is 3/4's full...the one that is 3/4's full will have a longer shelf life.

I always say that 90% of casting/molding issues can be traced back to ineffective or improper mixing. I recently found a bottle of the reacting agent for the silicone molds I had forgotten about 3 months ago that was almost 1/3 full. It was worse than molasses. Now if I didnt have the pressure pot I wouldnt have tried this because the pressure pot helps force the silicone. But before I throw something away, I want to be sure its garbage. This was the perfect opportunity to experiment with. LETS SEE WHAT THESE PRODUCTS CAN DO!

And I mixed the shit shit out of it. It looked like it was half cured already. And I mixed it first in its container by itself and then I mixed it with part B and mixed the shit out of it some more and globbed the silicone into the frame and threw it into the pressure pot.

I dont care what the outside of the mold looks like. Just whether or not it made a good mold internally. And it worked beautifully. Unfortunately I dont have any pictures just yet...but it proved to me once and for all that mixing is the most important part of casting.